The Stein Valley Traverse - YouTube - Stormy Mountain - nature study

The Stein River Valley is preserved in Stein Valley Nlaka'pamux Heritage Park,British Columbia,Canada.Along the way,an American pika (Ochotona princeps),alpine vegitation and indigenous art are seen.*Music:Vida la Vida by Coldplay and Hey Ma Durga by Inya

Princess Anne christens Canadian navy vessel as part of BC tour - posted 3 May 2024 - Global News

HMCS Max Bernays is an Arctic and Offshore Patrol vessel,lightly armed with a BAE Systems naval gun and two machine guns,and having very limited ice-breaking capability.*BAE Systems PLC (OTCM:BAESY)

Interior Secretary Pledges Support for Grizzly Bear Reintroduction to the North Cascades Ecosystem (Washington State/British Columbia)

US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke,a former Navy SEAL,startled environmentalists and cattlemen alike when he announced his support for reintroducing the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) to the North Cascades Ecosystem.The Ecosystem stretches from Northcentral Washington State and across the Canadian border into British Columbia.Jewel of the Ecosystem is North Cascades National Park,which is located some 75 mile/121 km north of Seattle,Washington.
In his first year in office,Mr.Zinke has developed a tough guy reputation,seeming totally oblivious to conservation concerns,in the eyes of many,and apparently all in on resource extraction and exploitation.
The other side of the man was revealed in his recent comments at North Cascades National Park in Sedro-Woolley,Skagit County,Washington:
The grizzly bear is part of the environment,as it once was here.It's part of a healthy environment.*
Restoring the grizzly bear to the North Cascades Ecosystem is the American conservation ethic come to life.The loss of the grizzly bear in the North Cascades would disturb the Ecosystem and deprive the region of an icon.*
I grew up on the flanks of Glacier National Park (Montana) and I have dealt with grizzly bears all my life.I'm in support of the Great Bear,and in support of doing this right.This is not reintroduction of a rabbit.*
I have always loved grizzlies.*
I am confident we have the skill to have grizzlies in the Ecosystem in a way that managers don't have unintended consequences.*
Few grizzly bears have been seen in recent years.It is believed there are no more than a few dozen grizzlies left in the entire Ecosystem.They were largely hunted out for their fur from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries.
There is also a small population of grizzly bears in the Selkirk Mountains of Northeast Washington.*
Mr.Zinke was educated in citizenship by the American Legion Boys' State programme,going on to become a decorated Navy SEAL,with whom he served in theatres from Kosovo to Iraq,as well as a state senator and Member of Congress.*
The Environmental Impact Statement for grizzly reintroduction to the North Cascades was halted when President Donald Trump took office.Indeed,Mr.Zinke had lifted Endangered Species Act protection for the grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.*
Secretary Zinke aims to have the EIS and a Record of Decision completed by year's end.*
The grizzly bear is a subspecies of brown bear (Ursus arctos).It is viewed with hostility by those with agricultural interests as a threat to both people and livestock;but considered a keystone species in conservation circles.

Nature Note:Fishers Reintroduced to Mt.Rainier - rare North American weasel species

Sometimes called the "fisher cat" because it is about the size of a large house cat,a close look at the fisher (Martes pennanti) shows much larger and longer claws than a house cat's,rounded ears and a pointed snout,with a facial resemblance to its cousin the wolverine.Now 10 of the rare forest weasels have been reintroduced to Mt.Rainier National Park.The creatures were set free on the Nisqually River Watershed on 2 December 2016.Over-trapping and habitat loss had extirpated them from Washington state in the mid-twentieth century,and they were listed as state-endangered in 1998.The US Fish&Wildlife Service has requested they be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.*
The four female and six male fishers released were captured in British Columbia as part of a multi-year project to reintroduce fishers to the Southern Cascade Mountains.They got health checkups by veterinarians and radio transmitters so biologists can track them,the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said.Lead partners in the effort were the WDFW;National Park Service;US Forest Service;and Conservation Northwest.The British Columbia Ministry of Environment and BC Trappers Association provided the animals.
Last year,the group released 23 fishers,11 females and 12 males,on Gifford Pinchot National Forest.Next,the Northern Cascades are targeted for more releases,with another 80 set for release beginning as early as autumn 2017.The Nisqually and Cowlitz tribes,along with Canadian Chilcotin and and Northern Shushrip First Nations,attended the Mt.Rainier release and performed their blessings and songs.*
From 2008-10,90 fishers were released in Olympic National Park,Washington.They have dispersed throughout the Olympic Peninsula and successfully reproduced.A secretive carnivore that favours low to mid-elevation boreal and mixed forests,the fisher preys on mountain beavers;squirrels;snowshoe hares;and even porcupines.The goal is to eventually be able to downlist the species,a valuable furbearer,to a less protected status.

Nature Note:Cooper's Hawk

Along a section of the Monocacy River in Northern Maryland,the riverbanks are forested,providing wildlife habitat and buffering the waterway from the intense development and agriculture just beyond.The vegetation also stabilises the banks,preventing harmful erosion here in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.Abundant small mammals such as the gray squirrel are thriving along the riverbanks and the urban forest of mature trees,both coniferous and deciduous.These small furbearers are in turn sustaining predators such as the Cooper's hawk (Accipter cooperii).
Indeed,as I make my way along the hilly Mid-Atlantic terrain of the Northern Piedmont Ecoregion just east of the northern extension of the Blue Ridge Mountains,a Cooper's hawk makes several forays against the squirrels from its perch in a large deciduous tree in a backyard.It stoops on the squirrels,but they are agile enough to evade the swift and powerful hawk's razor-sharp talons.It may take the hawk upwards of a dozen tries or more before it finally succeeds in catching breakfast.The squirrels are very aware of the hawk's presence and tactics,and are usually fast and cagey enough themselves to avoid them,so most of them will live to stash another acorn for the approaching winter.
The hawk also preys on the songbirds that inhabit the riverine and urban forest,but of course they are not as much of a meal as a squirrel would be.
The Cooper's hawk breeds from British Columbia all the way over to Nova Scotia,and south to Florida and Costa Rica,wintering as far north as New England and BC.

US Coast Guard-RCMP Integration Stepped Up

Since June 2013,the US Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Mounted Police have more fully integrated their operations in the Great Lakes and Vancouver,British Columbia areas.At that time,the Integrated Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations,ICMLEO,were finalised.The program,also called Shiprider,had been successfully tested from 2005-10 at such events as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and G20 and G8 summits.*
Under Shiprider,specially trained and designated USCG and RCMP members ride on each other's boats and have law enforcement powers on both sides of the border.The USCG members are trained in Canadian law and procedure;the RCMP members are trained in US law and procedure.When the jointly crewed vessels enter either country,the appropriate member assumes supervision.
The old method of two nations separately patrolling binational waters was found to be cumbersome,presenting significant logistical and communications challenges to law enforcement,while benefiting elusive criminals.Shiprider allows teams to seamlessly move across the border and transition lead agencies,depending on where suspects are going,while respecting the sovereignty of both nations.*
Shiprider basically involves jointly detecting,monitoring and boarding of suspicious vessels on both sides of the US-Canadian border,making arrests as warranted.The focus is on the smuggling of drugs,weapons and humans.
According to RCMP Sgt.Peter Koersvelt,it allows us to simply transition lead agencies and intercept the vessel and contraband.We have the ability under exigent circumstances to come ashore.We can also do surge operations for special events.It's only on shared,undisputed waterways.Electronic charters and plotters on the vessels,as well as shore operations centres,determine which country they are in at any given time.*
Some Canadians expressed concern about the program's effect on Canadian sovereignty.An online poll conducted by CBC-Windsor in June showed that 66.28% of respondents approved of Shiprider,while 33.72% opposed.
The program is reminiscent of NORAD,the North American Aerospace Defense Command,which has successfully integrated US and Canadian aerospace defence for decades.

Nature Note:Red-tailed Hawk

The chunky sentinel of North American roadsides,the red-tailed hawk(buteo jamaicensis),is one of the most common birds of prey on the continent.Tolerant of human activity,this hawk is often noted by motorists as they rush to and fro.
The red-tailed hawk has a rust-colored tail and a white breast with central dark band.It hunts for small mammals up to the size of rabbits either soaring or perched on a tree or telephone pole or wire.Its high-pitched scream is often included in film sound tracks to suggest the wild.
The red-tailed hawk will also feed on roadkill along byways.It breeds as far north as British Columbia and Nova Scotia,and lives year-round down into Mexico.A famous pair of red-taileds has been breeding in New York's Central Park.
They are so widespread,they may serve as an introduction to the raptors for children and adults alike.If you see a hawk while driving ,there's a good chance it is a red-tailed.

Nature Note:The White-breasted Nuthatch

The white-breasted nuthatch(Sitta carolinensis) is basically a non-migratory bird,but is most visible in fall and winter,when it frequents bird feeders in wooded yards.Occurring from British Columbia east to Ontario and south to Mexico,this true forest bird nests in tree cavities and often flocks with other woodland types such as titmice,chickadees and woodpeckers in the colder months.
The white-breasted nuthatch scurries up and down tree trunks as it forages for insects or birdseed.Highly active and quick-moving,it has a blue-gray back,white breast and face and black cap.It doesn't eat nuts,despite its name.
This nuthatch is five inches long;by comparison,the American robin is eight-and-a-half inches long.It will snatch a sunflower seed from a feeder,then scurry away.